Backing up MySQL
MySQL backups are
performed using the common mysqldump
tool. This is a command line utility
that ships with MySQL and you use at
as follows:
% mysqldump --user=user
--password=pass --opt DBNAME > dumpfile.sql
You may also need to specify the
--host= parameter to force the hostname you are connecting to. This
depends largely on how you've setup
your user security. This will produce
a text file with a series of
INSERT/DROP/CREATE SQL statements that
will recreate the database.
The --opt flag is very important. This
is shorthand to pass in many flags at
once; --add-drop-table --add-locks
--create-options --disable-keys --extended-insert --lock-tables --quick --set-charset. This ensures that your database is in a good state
while the backup is performed,
including restricting all write access
while the backup is in operation. Any
locks placed will be automatically
removed when this utility finishes.
Source
